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Your next chapter.
A considered approach to what comes next.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Expertise that moves business forward.
M&A advisory across five professional services subsectors, focused on businesses with $10M-$250M in enterprise value.
Discuss a professional services business ↗What we cover
Professional Services at Graystone.
Five subsector coverage seats serving businesses with $10M-$250M in enterprise value. One Vice President is assigned to each seat.
- Accounting, Tax & Financial Advisory
- Insurance Brokerage & Services
- Wealth & Retirement Advisory
- Staffing, Talent & HR Services
- Legal, Compliance & Risk Services
Professional Services
The value of expertise is built on people, relationships, and trust.
Sector coverage
Five professional services subsectors.
The service lines below reflect Graystone’s approved coverage map.
01 Accounting, Tax & Financial Advisory
- CPA firms and tax practices
- Outsourced accounting and client accounting services (CAS)
- Bookkeeping and payroll practices
- Business valuation firms
- Fractional and outsourced CFO services
- Transaction advisory, forensic accounting and restructuring
02 Insurance Brokerage & Services
- Retail property and casualty agencies
- Employee benefits brokers and consultants
- Managing general agents, managing general underwriters and program administrators
- Wholesale and excess and surplus brokers
- Third-party administrators
- Claims administration, adjusting and loss control
03 Wealth & Retirement Advisory
- Registered investment advisers and hybrid advisory practices
- Broker-dealer affiliated practices and advisor books
- Retirement plan advisory and recordkeeping
- Family office and multi-family office services
- Trust and fiduciary services
- Annuity and insurance-adjacent advisory practices
04 Staffing, Talent & HR Services
- Professional, specialty and light industrial staffing
- Executive search and recruitment process outsourcing
- Professional employer organizations and employer of record
- Human resources outsourcing and advisory
- Workforce compliance and immigration services
- Background screening and credentialing
05 Legal, Compliance & Risk Services
- Alternative legal service providers and legal process outsourcing
- Litigation support, court reporting and record retrieval
- Electronic discovery and legal technology services
- Intellectual property and trademark services
- Law firm managed services organizations
- Title, escrow and settlement services
- Regulatory compliance consulting and corporate investigations
Value drivers
What buyers look for.
Buyers examine how consistently the firm earns trust, delivers expertise, and retains clients and talent.
- Recurring relationshipsRetention, renewal patterns, and the durability of client revenue.
- Specialist talentDepth beyond the founder and continuity across key practitioners.
- Service mixThe balance of recurring, project-based, and advisory work.
- Client concentrationExposure to individual clients, industries, and referral sources.
- Compliance and reputationControls, credentials, service quality, and a record clients can trust.
- Scalable deliverySystems, utilization, and margins that support responsible growth.
Preparing for a process
Make the firm easier to understand.
Clear information helps buyers see what makes the business durable and where the next chapter can lead.
Clarify succession
Define leadership roles and how client relationships will transition.
Map client revenue
Show retention, concentration, service mix, and recurring work clearly.
Document the team
Explain credentials, responsibilities, incentives, and bench strength.
Strengthen reporting
Prepare consistent financial and operating information for diligence.
Owner questions
Considering a transaction.
How are professional services firms valued?
Buyers typically consider earnings, recurring revenue, client retention, growth, service mix, and the depth of the team. The weighting depends on the firm and the buyer.
Will partners or founders need to stay after closing?
Buyers often value continuity with clients and employees. The role, duration, and terms of any transition are discussed during the process.
What does buyer diligence focus on?
Diligence commonly covers financial performance, client relationships, contracts, credentials, compliance, employees, systems, and ownership of work product or intellectual property.
How is sensitive information shared?
Graystone uses a controlled process for sharing sensitive information with qualified parties as the transaction develops.
Graystone Direct
Talk through your options.
A personal conversation with an advisor about your professional services firm, your goals, and your next step.
Discuss a professional services business ↗